//------------------------------// // Come Together // Story: Lightening the Load // by Silent Bob //------------------------------// "Come together, right now! Over me!" "Alright, so let me get this straight, Pinkie," an utterly baffled Vinyl Scratch spoke as she stood upon the stage of Ponyville concert hall along with Ditzy, Octavia, 'Solar Flare', and Lyra. "You want us to travel one hundred fifty miles away to the changeling hive to play for a bunch of super villains who aren't even from this universe?!" "Yep!" Pinkie said, bouncing. Vinyl put on an epic grin. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FRIGGIN AWESOME THAT SOUNDS?!" Octavia and Lyra raised their eyebrows. "Well uh, the idea does seem interesting..." the former said. "And you say we'll be safe and everything? And that it'll help the poor changelings?" Lyra said. "They're bringing in this huge starship thingy for security!" Pinkie said. "And yes, it would. But why would you help us, though?" Solar Flare asked suspiciously. With that, Lyra smiled and pointed to a small pin she was wearing that said: 'Stop the hate! Start the love! Feed a changeling today!'" Solar Flare's eyes widened at that. "Y-You're a changeling supporter?" "Yeah!" she beamed. "Fluttershy actually started a movement after Twilight held a meeting to try to rid the town of some of its paranoia." Solar Flare put on a warm smile. "She really is a friend to all living things." Pinkie gave a devious smirk. "Also, Lyra, I hear there might be elves coming." A more manic, obsessive grin couldn't come upon a pony's face at that. "Did you just say ELVES?!" she squealed. "THAT'S IT! I AM SO IN!" She then turned towards Octavia. "What about you, Octy!? Come on, if a bunch of villains like our duet then anypony would! And think of the money the queen is offering! You could buy twenty new cellos if you wanted!" "Mmmm, I'm still not so sure about this..." she said, turning towards Solar Flare. "As the Queen of the Changelings, you're sure we'll be protected?" "You have my guarantee." Octavia brought a hoof to her chin, putting in a few moments of thought. "Well, only one last question then." Chryalis raised an eyebrow. "Shoot." She put on a smirk. "How are the acoustics in the hall you want us playing in?" Chrysalis gave a smile. "I actually have to grow it still, so you can help me customize it. I was originally going to have you just play the bar, but you all seem so good we could probably actually get away with making it a feature. That means a concert hall is in order." "Well, this sounds cool as shit!" Vinyl grinned. "How are we getting there, though?" "A friend of Pinkie's has a mode of transportation that's pretty... spacious actually. If you all could round up whatever and whoever you need and bring them here around six, we'll give you a lift." "Sounds good to me," Vinyl said. "Might as well get used to the place. It starts in four days right?" "You've got it!" Pinkie beamed. "Bon Bon will probably like getting the house to herself," Lyra smirked. "I'll be there." Octavia gave a slight sigh. "Well, I have a bit of business to take care of but I think I can make it." Chrysalis gave a thankful nod at that. "Alright, well thanks for hearing us out and not summoning a guard or something like that." "Yeah, I can't wait to hear your new stuff, Vinyl!" Pinkie called, as her, Chrysalis, and Ditzy made their way to the theater exit before making their leave. "So, we're the best thing that Equestria has to offer," Octavia chuckled. "Those villains are definitely going to be disappointed." "Alrighty! Next up is food and stuff!" Pinkie bounced. "Lead the way, kid," Chrysalis smiled. "That actually went a lot better than expected." "I had an idea on how we could get the furniture and other stuff we need, too," Ditzy said. "We just need to get Princess Luna to place an order for a ton of it for the palace; she can say they're redecorating it or something." "Mmmm, hopefully it'll get there in time though," Chrysalis said. Ditzy shook her head. "I'm sure it will, all they'd have to do is load it up from some warehouse and have it transported via airship. Those things can move pretty quickly." She then smiled slightly. "Maybe we could actually buy the airship if you have enough gold and transport it directly to the islands, or do some sort of under the counter deal if they're willing to go there. It'd be better than us having to load it all up in the TARDIS." Chrysalis nodded. "Yeah that could work." She then turned towards Pinkie. "You made a list of everything we need, right?" "Yep!" the Pink mare bounced. "Everything needed for one hundred and seventy two quarters, a bar slash dance club, a restaurant, a presentation room, a meeting room, and a concert hall." "Nice," Chrysalis said.."Well, alright. I'll go start buying the food we'll need; just give me the list. Ditzy, you go round up the Doctor and have him move the TARDIS to the concert hall, and Pinkie-" "Yeah?" She gave a smile. "See if the rest of your friends are willing to come and help. I know I said that'd be bad for them to exposed to all these... these people, but I wouldn't want you to be exposed to them either, at least not without a little support." "You got it, Chryssy! Go team IGOM!" Pinkie beamed, before bouncing away. Ditzy gave Chrysalis a curious expression. "You know, even if we can get all the cooking equipment Pinkie's calling for, who's going to use it?" Chrysalis gave a slight smile. "Leave that to me." The derpy-eye mare nodded. "Well, guess I'll go and see if the Doctor's done talking with that Jack guy." ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "I remember a few things from when I first came here," Jack said. "Like being appalled by Discord and his Chaos Empire, the whole notion of it. You see, the ponies who weren't being treated as personal playthings to him were being subjugated to these stringent, insane laws enforced by this legion he had mind controlled under him. I remember one where it was something like sneezing when the moon was at full was warrant to immediate arrest and a punishment where you'd be forced to jump off a building in front of your townsfolk." "Mmm... glad that area of history is time locked. It's the last thing I'd want to see," the Doctor said, his eyes narrowing in spite. "Yeah, and I couldn't stand to see it myself, so I eventually started up a resistance movement with our plan being to try to liberate as many border towns as we could from the Chaos Legion. At first, we were a small group, but we quickly grew in numbers. Having a leader who couldn't be offed helped a bit with that." Wielding a crossbow, Captain Harness crept through a thick of brush on the outskirts of a small, mountain village, keeping a careful eye on the sun's position as it lowered towards a distant mountain. "Almost there," a resistance fighter nearby whispered. "Just keep it steady, Plumdrop," Jack said, before letting out a small laugh. "Heh, sorry, I'm just never going to get used to these names." Plumdrop rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and what kind of name is Harkness, anyway?" "A cool one, now shush!" At that, the sun touched the top of the mountain's peak in the distance. "Alright, go time!" At that, him and one hundred other resistance fighters moved quietly out of the forests surrounding the village, took aim at every Chaos Guard in sight, and simultaneously dropped every target before they knew what hit them. "Don't get cocky, people. There might be more in the barracks and public buildings, start clearing!" Jack called. "Leave it to you to start up a merry band of rebels," the Doctor said. "Though weren't you afraid that Discord might come down hard on the villages you liberated, or even threaten to kill off ponies for the soldiers he lost in order to get you to stop?" Jack nodded. "At first, though that didn't last long when we realized Discord really didn't give that much of a crap about the frontier. He had the whole of Equestria under his thumb, including Canterlot, a city of tens of thousands... or was it just thousands? I can't really remember..." "For something that happened two thousand years ago, and for a man with memory problems, you're still recalling this pretty well," the Doctor said, smiling warmly. "Actually, most of it's not from memory, or at least not directly from it," Captain Harness said. "One of the resistance fighters, Plumdrop actually, wrote one of the first post-Imperial books, all about the resistance war. I'm uh... mentioned a lot in it... in detail. Let's just say we were... close, and he liked to write about our relationship... a lot," he said, grinning. "Unfortunately though, many believe that it's actually a book of fiction now, can you believe it?" "A pony who can't die from another dimension helps start a resistance movement to overthrow a tyrannical empire. Nope, totally believable," the Doctor said. "I know, right!" Jack chuckled. "But yeah, eventually we did attract attention, though it wasn't from Discord." ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "Alright... time to get started," Chrysalis said, gazing at the food list Pinkie had written that contained nearly fifty different items. "Wow... this is going to take a bit. And what the hell is alfalfa?" She then gazed up, noticing she was nearing the town's market district, it being filled with rows upon rows of street vendors. "Howdy pardner!" a certain orange pony called from a nearby stand, the Element of Honesty. "Need anything apple related?" "Yeah, actually," Chrysalis said, giving her a slight smile. "Let's see.." She gazed upon her list. "Well, it seems I just need one. A red delicious, please." "Here ya go!" Applejack smiled, before picking out a large, plump apple and handing it to the swarm queen. At that, she smiled before placing it into a wagon she was dragging behind her. "That'll be one bit." Chrysalis simpered slightly. She really didn't have any 'bits' on her, just a massive amount of much older Equestrian gold pieces she had intended to use for trade long ago. "Uhhh, here you go," she said, levitating one out of a saddle bag she had holstered. Applejack gave a chuckle. "Darlin, that's worth about twenty bits if that's what I think it is." "It's a 1223 dubloon," Chrysalis stated. "Heh. Did you just walk out of pirate times or somethin'?" Applejack grinned. "Sorry, bad joke, but those things are solid gold!" Chrysalis gave a smile, shaking her head slightly at her own ineptitude. "Eh, you know what? You can have it. Don't worry about the change." The farm pony's eyes widened at that. "Are ya sure?" "Yeah, consider it a gift," the swarm queen said. It was the least she could do after all the trouble she had caused her and her friends. "I wonder how Pinkie's doing with the rest of them at the moment," she then muttered to herself. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "Oh come on, Fluttershy!" Pinkie pressed, standing at the front door of the shy pony's cottage. "You're leading a changeling support group, aren't you?" "Yes...." Fluttershy squeaked. "They're a good people, but they have a bad ruler..." "Chrysalis isn't evil," Pinkie grunted. "I don't know why she was acting the way she was during the whole Canterlot thing but she's much different than what she let on." "I-I still don't know... what could I even do to help?" Fluttershy asked. "You could help me set up stuff and be moral support! And hey, maybe hanging out in the changeling hive for a bit will give you a perspective you could use to further your changeling promotion thingy!" The shy pony narrowed her eyebrows in thought at that before putting on a light smile. "Well... me and Twilight were going to hold a rally in Canterlot in a week or so... and you say this whole event will give the poor things something to eat?" Pinkie nodded frantically, now sure she was finally starting to get through to her soul-companion. "Yep! She's going to get this Philosopher's Stone thingy that'll give them all the food they need!" "Well... OK... I'll think about it," Fluttershy said. A certain spiky-green haired mare cackled at that, observing the two from a distance away. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "Hmmm, well the idea does seem intriguing, dear," Rarity said. "I was wondering where you were the past day or so. This town isn't the same without your lovely evening parties." "So, you'll come and help? Your eye for detail would be super awesome to have around!" "Well hold on... are you absolutely sure that Queen Chrysalis isn't as bad as she seemed to be?" "Positive!" Pinkie beamed. "We totally had a heart to heart when we were travelling to her hive. I know there's a lot of good in her. She even stayed and helped me and Princess Luna out when we were attacked by a bunch of Astral Wolfies when she could totally have just booked it!" "Astral Wolves?!" Rarity said, her eyes widening. "My, you have had an interesting last few days, haven't you?" She then brought a hoof to her chin. "You know... with the changelings fed I bet that rat Blueblood won't be able to continue his barbaric anti-changeling campaign...." "That's what Princess Luna said!" "And... I bet trade relations could open up if Chrysalis is willing to work with Princess Celestia," Rarity continued dollar signs practically flashing in her eyes. "Do changelings happen to have a sense of fashion?" "One of Chrysalis' guards did," Pinkie grinned. "Then it's settled!" Rarity proclaimed. "I shall come with you, dear Pinkie, and show my fashion line off to the changelings while I'm at it!" "Awesome!" Pinkie grinned, before letting loose a slight sigh. "I just hope Rainbow Dash will be as understanding..." ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "No way in hell," Rainbow Dash grunted, walking alongside Pinkie. "Oh come on, Dashie! Are you sure?!" "Yep, sorry Pinkie but that's just not happening. End of story." And there was no further discussion. "Mmmm, you're sayin' Chrysalis is walkin' around dressed up as a yellow unicorn with a fireball for a cutie mark?" Applejack questioned at her stand. "Yeah, but don't tell anypony, it's a secret!" Pinkie whispered. "Heh, well she actually just gave me a mighty fine donation to the Apple Family cause," she winked, pulling out the 1223 debloom. "I heard a bit of guilt in her voice too, when she gave it to me. I thought it was weird at the time, but now it makes sense. I don't think you're tellin' a tall tale when you say they're on the level, are ya?" "Nope! The changelings are super cool when you get to know them. They're a lot like ponies only... they're kind of made a little weirdly." "Mph, well... I guess they're gonna need good cooks for this party," Applejack mused. "You know what? You've got my hoof, Pinkie. Let's make this crazy shindig happen. I owe you for that kickin' party ya gave me for my birthday." "Yayyyy!" Pinkie beamed. "But uh, do you think you could come with me and Rarity so we can try to convince Rainbow Dash to come?" Applejack raised her eyebrows. "I dunno Pinkie. Trying to get that mule to budge aint gonna be easy unless you can somehow convince the Wonderbolts to come." "Well, we might as well give it a shot!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "Nope, still not happening," Rainbow Dash growled. "I'm never going to trust Chrysalis. Not now, not ever. Not after how she treated Twilight." "Come now, darling. Nopony got hurt at that wedding." "Not physically," she snapped. "Nothing you three can say is going to convince me to come. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got something to do that doesn't involve playing hotel to a bunch of interdimensional dicks." And she flew off. "And after that, we pushed towards Canterlot, our army growing in the thousands. We even got a few of the other races to join us. We eventually surrounded the city, and Discord himself came out to face us, tossing about entire divisions with this magic mace of his." "Why does this sound like a movie I've seen?" the Doctor said. Jack gave a shrug, before sighing slightly. "I saw a lot of people die during that fight. This one Gryphon, Isildar, son of the Gryphon King, actually picked up his father's sword and sliced off one of Discord's fingers, only to be cut down. It was absolutely brutal. Only when Princess Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony on that bastard did it finally come to the end." With that, the Doctor took a deep breath. "Jack, if what you're telling me about how Princess Celestia and Luna came into being is true, then I think we're in trouble." "What do you mean?" "Because I know why a certain extradimensional entity is hosting a shindig here," the Doctor said, his eyes then narrowing in resolve. "I need to go find one of my friends, to tell her what you've told me!" "What? What are you talking about? What shindig?!" "Sorry, Jack! No time! I'll meet up with you in a bit," the Doctor called as he began making his way towards the Ponyville Concert Hall. However, before he went to far, he turned his head and gave Jack one last smile. "I will help you remember, though. I think you have more in you than you think, they're just buried deep inside." "I'll hold you to it," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Righto!" the Doctor called, before scurrying out of his sight. "Hmph, same ole Jack," the Doctor smiled. "I wonder if he-" Before the Doctor could finish, a thundercrack sounded from right in the middle of Ponyville, a swirling mass of energy appeared about ten feet above Town Hall. The Doctor stumbled back, his eyes barely adjusting to the light it was giving off. The ponies around him then began to shriek and panic, some ducking into houses, others just trying to get out town. "It's the end of the world!" "Save yourselves!" "No! I'm too young and sexy to die!" "It's not the bloody end days, people! It's just an interdimensional portal!" the Doctor screamed. "Still, everypony get out of town just in case whatever comes through isn't friendly! Now keep calm and carry on!" He didn't need to tell the town that twice, for a few seconds later a black, beetle like machine appeared within the swirling mass of energy, it about the size of a horse carriage, with two gun-like appendices' barrels glowing a bright red. "Attention miserable Equestrian worm-ponies! I AM ZIM! From this day on, your flanks belong to the Irken Empire! PREPARE FOR THE LAST SLEEP YOU'VE EVER... SLEPT!" a built in loud-speaker of some sort announced. At that, another voice made its presence known, this one a bit more robotic yet high-pitched. "I'm gonna sing the doom song now: Doom doom doom doom doom, Doom doom do DOOM, DOOOM doom do-doom, DOOM do-doom doom doooom, doom doom dooom, do-do-DOOOM!" "GIR! Get away from the microphone!" "IT'S OVER! IT'S ALL OVER!" Somepony cried. "Get to the Everfree Forest! We'll be safe there!" "Oh bloody hell!" the Doctor cried. "This whole dimension is going mad! You know, I might as well say it: 'How could things get worse?''" And then things got worse. "Hello, Doctor," a pony with green, long, spiky locks for hair grinned, marching in front of the time lord and disregarding the chaos around her him. "Seems we need to have a little talk. And what a better time than now?" "And just who are you?" the Doctor growled. The grin turned into a sneer. "I'm Envy the Jealous, and you've just said your last goodbye."